Hi, I'm Vicki Jones, living in Wales UK, mum of 3 and a District Nurse. My recipes are Slimming World friendly, easy to make and really tasty! I'm not a Slimming World consultant but just love to make Slimming World friendly meals.
. I'm passionate about good food and enjoy reviewing restaurants when I can.

Any enquiries please email me at: vickikitchen@outlook.com
I'm on Facebook as Vicki-kitchen, on instagram as Vickis_kitchen and on Twitter as VickiJNurse

Sunday, 25 September 2016

I was lucky enough to be invited to go to the relaunch of The Flora the other week (apologies for the late review). I have never visited this pub before but found it easily a quick ten minute walk from Cathays train station and its there on the right.

First impressions were very favourable the bar area was airy and light and although not many there when we arrived the bar staff were really friendly and chatty. My friend and I decided to indulge in a couple of cocktails and they were delicious. I had a Flora Fizz which was gin based with mint and cucumber and I could really smell and taste the cucumber it was very refreshing my friend had a Strawberry cocktail which she said was gorgeous they went down very well and competitively priced at £5 each.

Our starter came out and was a deep fried breaded goats cheese which was very tasty and was served on a salad with slivers of crunchy apple which made the salad interesting and bright drizzled with a honey mustard dressing

The second course was fish goujons coated with a Barry Island IPA batter which was light and crispy, Served alongside with it was a homemade tartare sauce which came in a cute little glass lidded jar which could have been a bit bigger to be honest as you couldn't dip into it but it was sharp with gherkins and creamy. Another dish on the board were small dishes with lamb meatballs which were lovely with a mint, honey and yogurt sauce to accompany it. Two different types of fries came along with this one lot with rosemary and garlic and the others were paprika both of which were really good my friend and I had to split them between us as we couldn't decided which we liked the best I think I fought harder for the paprika ones to be fair but they were both fab.

Our dessert was very interesting a cup of vanilla ice cream with a syrup made from Brains S.A. we were told that it was made with a the beer along with brown sugar and dark chocolate now I'm not keen on beer so was a little wary but it was to die for really dark and sticky reminded me of treacle toffee which is always a good thing.

Unfortunately due to train times we had to run to catch the train and didn't get a proper chance to thank everyone for their hospitality and by the time we left the place had really filled up and was lively with chatter, I could see there was a good selection of beers available and the wine list looked pretty good too.

It was lovely to see that an effort was made to include local ingredients on the menu and while its no where near local to me I shall definitely be paying a return visit for the food and cocktails.

Saturday, 24 September 2016

You can buy Slimming World friendly sausages but to me they are sometimes a bit dry and tough, This super quick recipe makes delicious syn free sausages only thing is they aren't in skins but doesn't bother me you can roll them into sausage shapes if you prefer but I just make them into patties.

The good thing is once you have made them next time you can add more some things and less of others however you like it, I sometimes add some chili flakes or more sage just play around and see which you like best.

Sunday, 18 September 2016

I love these potatoes and so easy to make you don't even peel the potatoes but you have to choose the right variety of potato. I use Marabel which I buy in ASDA which are thin skinned but suitable for mashing. I have used the red rooster potatoes too they are very good.

The picture also shows the turkey meatloaf which I served with the mash and the recipe for that can be found by clicking here

Cut the potatoes into smallish chunks and cook in boilng salted water until tender. Drain well and while still hot add the quark, chopped chives and beaten egg and mash, You aren't looking for a smooth mash because the skins give it texture (hence the rustic name!) Season with salt and pepper about a tsp of each and mix very well.